A product of the Tiger Schulmann camp, Jimmie Rivera is a King of the Cage Bantamweight Champion who’s gained exposure competing in Bellator, Ring of Combat, and King of the Cage. In addition to gaining promotional experience and a championship belt, Rivera has also earned a notable win over Abel Cullum.

Composed and tactical, Rivera demonstrates good quickness, footwork and head movement. He’s always on balance standing where he’s proven to be light and agile on his feet. Early in his career Rivera’s shown good hands including a quick, stiff jab, a fantastic left hook and a good right cross. He possesses impressive hand speed as well as extremely quick instincts and reaction times. Rivera shows tremendous potential in his counter punching abilities. He’s equipped with a quick, tidy and beautifully timed counter left hook, a nice counter right cross and excellent “catch and counter” striking abilities (catching the low kick and countering with a straight right). Rivera looks to work his standup from the outside where he can use his quickness and footwork to get in and out of range. When the fight is bought in close he’ll work his knees to the legs and head while looking for opportunities to push off and reset. An intelligent tactician, Rivera takes a very methodical approach to his standup, sticking stringently to game plans and trusting his stuff. He primarily looks to his boxing when standing (in part to avoid the takedown), although he will throw the occasional kick to the leg or body to keep his opponent honest and to avoid getting repetitive.

A thick, stocky bantamweight, Rivera shows potential in his grappling. He’s demonstrated strong takedown defense including a beautiful sprawl. This was highlighted during his five round affair with Abel Cullum, whose tenacious takedown attempts he stuffed through the duration of their bout. Rivera shows good cage awareness and does a really nice job of keeping his back off the cage to avoid being put down. He’s also shown competent takedowns, displaying a quick shot and the ability to power through with a nice double leg. Recognized as an intelligent, tactical fighter, Rivera is flexible in his game planning and will take his opponent to the mat to either change the pace or take the fight to the area where he holds the biggest advantage. There, he incorporates an active ground and pound game while showing nice control, quick transitions, and good submission awareness from the top. Rivera will need to continue working on his guard, BJJ and technical mat game but his grappling does show promise.